Uneven Footsteps
by N.E.Ladette
Summary: Hinamori starts at a new school and befriends the popular guy... the only problem is does Momo want more then friendship?... Hitsuhina highschool fluff.. first fic, be nice but please do R
1. Chapter 1

**Okay! So this is the first chapter of my first fan fiction, and it's a hitsuhina high school fluff, and doesn't really have anything to do with bleach (except the characters)…**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own bleach, and I don't know how many people would watch it if I did. **

Uneven Footsteps 

"28, 29, 30, 31…" she murmured as she rushed along the corridors._'Dam',_ she was late again. Her bangs were whipped from her face as she broke into a run. It was Momo's second day at this high school, and it was…well huge. She finally arrived at her correct classroom (room 50), and began fixing her hair; catching her breath and waving a hand at her slightly flushed face, trying to aerate it. Her breathing slowed and when she looked at her watch she saw she was only 5 minutes late. With a sigh she slowly turned the door handle and quickly stepped inside.

The teacher had her back to the door and was writing something on the board._ 'Good thing'_, Momo thought. This was Ms Drynan; she was short, old, and strict. All in all she was a 'hard arse'. Momo learnt that the hard way only yesterday. Momo began frantically searching for an available seat and found the only one close by. She walked over quickly and quietly, as Ms Drynan still hadn't noticed her presence yet. As Momo approached the desk she blushed slightly just now noticing whom the last vacant seat was next to. He smiled and nodded when she shyly motioned to sit next to him. She quickly plopped down and took out her book, trying to hide the light shade of red creeping across her cheeks.

**So a very short chapter, but I have limited time on the computer as it is. By the way I have a friend writing this with me, so this may be slow, as we can never agree on the storyline.**


	2. Chapter 2

Okay so the first chapter was meant to be apart of this one, but it just didn't happen that way…so enjoy I guess… 

He studied her for another minute or so; she had chocolate brown hair and eyes to match. Ignoring the blush in her cheeks he noticed how smooth and soft her skin looked. She was wearing a pair of dark blue denim short shorts with a light blue tank top. He focused back to Ms Drynan again but it wasn't long until his interest turned back to the girl beside him. With nothing else to do he decided to make some light conversation.

"Your new, aren't you?" he asked, quietly so the teacher didn't hear him.

"Yeah, I'm Hinamori Momo", she whispered back looking anywhere but his intense eyes.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro", he replied politely. Their gaze met and they shared a small smile before both turning their attention back to the board to copy down that night's homework.

Toushiro wasn't in anymore of Momo's classes but in her science class Momo made some new friends. Their names were Rukia, Orihime, Tatuski and Matsumoto. She learnt to avoid suffocating hugs from Matsumoto. As her new friends insisted that she sat with them at lunch Momo made her way to their table.

At the table there were 5 boys, who all looked Momo's age, already siting down. **(A/N: btw they're all meant to be approx 16 years old)** the closest one to Momo had orange hair and Momo wondered how much attention he attracted. Rukia introduced him as Ichigo, and Momo smiled in recognition and then her gaze shifted to the boy next to Ichigo. He had red hair tied up in a sort of bun with black tattoos across his face. This was Renji. Next to him was Ikkaku who was bald with red eye make-up. Opposite them was Yumichika who all in all was some pretty boy with feathery like things sprouting from his right eyebrow. Just when Momo was truly questioning weather or not it would be 'social suicide' to site down she saw him. Hitsugaya Toushiro, he had silvery, spiky hair and blue-green eyes. He was admittedly short but he was still about an inch taller than Momo **(A/N: yes I did change his height as I think it sounds better if he's taller). **After seeing him she took a seat quickly with no further questions. Momo pretty much ate in silence observing the group answering a question here and there. The bell made her jump and remembering that she didn't know her way around too well, she quickly stood up, said good-bye to everyone and headed for her next class.

She made it on time to find Rukia outside the door as well. Rukia practically squealed when she saw Momo. When Momo questioned her strange behaviour, Rukia explained that everyone else (Orihime, Matsumoto…etc) were all in the other class and she was happy to finally have a friend in this class. Momo just smiled and, when the teacher ushered them inside, chose a seat next to Rukia.

Deciding that the lesson was boring Rukia turned to Momo and began pestering her with questions.

"Are you 15 or 16?" Rukia asked.

"16,"Momo replied. Rukia nodded.

" Do you live nearby?" she continued.

"Yeah," answered Momo, " just round the corner, I walk to school."

Rukia nodded again, "so then I guess you'll get to walk home with Toushiro," she added mischievously.

" Huh?" Momo spluttered wide-eyed.

" Oh I didn't mean anything by it," Rukia lied, "It's just that he lives close by as well and I'd hate for someone like 'you' to walk home alone, you can never be too careful after all. I'll make sure Toushiro walks you home actually; after all I'd hate to have to come to this class alone again.

"Oh," was all Momo managed to say. She knew Rukia was trying to set them up. She wasn't stupid after all but Momo didn't want to object as Toushiro walking her home didn't sound to bad.

Rukia grinned to herself. ' M_ission Accomplished'_!

**Bahh I'm not too happy with how this turned out…everything goes so smooth in my head but then when it comes to typing it out I draw blanks. Umm well I'm on holidays right now and I guess that's the only reason why I'm writing this, as normally I'd never have time…so I guess review and tell to keep going or not…**


	3. Chapter 3

Ahh, okay so this one was hard to write my co-writer and me don't agree on a whole lot…lol…but we got it done. I guess now we have an approx for how long each chapter is gonna take now…

Rukia had flat out ran to Toushiro's locker, determined to get there before he began his trip home. She made it in time to see him close the locker door and sling his bag over his shoulder.

"Oi Toushiro," Rukia panted.

"What's wrong?" he replied in a bored voice.

Rukia frowned at his attitude but continued, "I want you to walk Momo home today," she said flatly.

"Huh," he said ass his bored expression morphed into confusion.

"Well-uh, you she-uh, she's new and all, and-uh, I don't think she should walk home alone," Rukia finished lamely.

"Fine, whatever, where does she live?" he questioned

Rukia shrugged but added, "she said it was close by, around the corner or something, I don't know go find her and ask her yourself."

"Okay," Toushiro sighed before leaving.

It only took 2 minutes to find her. She was still at her locker trying to cram some books in. as he approached her; Momo became suddenly nervous and fumbled with a few books. This resulted with them crashing to the floor, and both Momo and Toushiro bending down quickly to pick up the books. When there was only one book left both teens tried to grab it. Their hands brushed each other's and they both looked up. Momo blushed and quickly picked up the last book. Toushiro couldn't help but notice how cute she looked when she blushed.

"Ahh, Rukia told me that you lived close by," he said finally breaking the silence, "Want me to walk you home?"

"Uh-sure," she smiled. Her insides squirmed as he returned the smile.

"Okay, uh-can I meet you at the gate but? I gotta grab my bike," he asked

"Uh sure." She replied.

"Kay, well I'll meet you there in a second," Toushiro said before turning and heading towards the bike rack.

Within a few minutes Toushiro met up with Momo at the gate, just outside the school. She smiled lightly at him as he approached; with two hands on the handlebar Toushiro walked his bike up to Momo.

"Uhh…" Toushiro started awkwardly, "you can stand on the back if you want, I mean it'd be much quicker if I rode." **(A/N: umm by standing on the back you know those things you buy to put on the wheels front and back, and yeah people stand on them, umm I don't want to sound confusing but I'm just trying to make sure it doesn't sound like their sharing a seat…continue)**

"Umm, okay," Momo answered and then after Toushiro sat down stood on the back. Toushiro started to peddle and Momo feeling unstable instinctively wrapped her arms around him, into a kind of hug, to stable herself. Toushiro blushed and when Momo realized what she was doing blushed also. She released him apologizing, but again felt unstable as Toushiro began to peddle faster. She fell forward slightly but placed her hands on his shoulders before she fell off.

"Sorry," she apologized for a second time.

"Nah, it's okay, what else are you supposed to hold onto?

"…"

Not wanting to fall into another awkward silence, Toushiro asked her which street she lived in and after that her house number. The ride was short, as the lived close enough to walk each day, and they soon reached Momo's house

"Seeing as you live close by, where abouts do you actually live," Momo asked, carefully climbing off the back of the bike.

"Actually I live just at the end of the street, number 24," Toushiro answered…Momo's house was number 4.

"Oh, okay, well thanks for the um-the ride?"

Toushiro shrugged, "anytime, want me to walk you tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Yeah, okay uhh I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah see you then," he responded. Momo then began to walk pup the steps to her house while Toushiro rode to the end of the street to number 24.

**Well there's chapter 3! My co-writer and me have recently begun writing a oneshot so yeah actually it may start taking even longer for chapters. Oh actually I figure that its getting annoying to write 'co-writer' so her name is Erin, just so you all know who I'm referring to. Okay enough talking from me!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey people…okay, wow this took me forever to update, I'm actually doing it in a double english period at school…seeing as I finished my work early and everyone else in my class are spastics with computers… I've snuck on to type this up…so apologies if it seems rushed or retarded…enough talk...**

**Ahh wait I realized I haven't been disclaiming and I'm not sure if I have to after the first chapter or not but I will anyways**

**Disclaimer: I don't own bleach…**

Momo quickly slipped on a white summer dress in between brushing her hair and teeth. She had overslept when her alarm didn't go off and now she was going to be late is she didn't hurry.

Momo had now been at her new high school for just under 2 weeks. In that time it had become a kind of morning ritual of hers to meet Toushiro outside her house and walk to school together. He would come to pick her up at 8:30am and it was now 8:25. Momo finished getting ready and rushed downstairs to answer the knock, which had just sounded at her door. Even before opening the door she knew it was Toushiro.

"Hey", she greeted. She had grown more confident around him and was less shy, but she was still a little self-conscious whenever he was in the room.

"Hey, you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, just gimme a sec I gotta lock up", she replied before turning and locking the door behind her.

The morning was pretty average and uneventful. At lunch time Orihime stood up and practically declared that they would al go to the movies tonight. Tatuski had some kind of training to attend to but everyone else agreed as it was Friday and no one else had made plans yet.

So straight after school they left for the cinema. After finding out that the movie they wanted to se started an hour and a half later, they decided to look around the shops.

They pretty much moved as a group walking fairly slowly with nowhere in particular to be for the next 90 minutes. Up front were Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime and Renji; next were Matsumoto, Ikkaku and Yumichika and finally at the back were Momo and Toushiro.

They continued wandering aimlessly until someone spotted a photo booth. With a few groans, they all managed to squeeze in, but dam was it a tight fit. Momo ended up practically sitting on Toushiro's lap while everyone else just kind of sprawled about the place. Rukia was able to maneuver her arm and slot in a coin, the machine counted to three and they all grinned like maniacs, stumbled out of the booth and collect their pictures.

To put it simply the pictures were priceless. There were nine of the same picture on the little sheet of plastic, so the divided them up evenly, meaning each person got one picture.

Eventually they decided to head back around to the cinema to buy their food, once that was out of the way they all bustled into the theater and picked their seats.

Inside the theater was almost empty and they gang spread out a little. All except Momo and Toushiro had hadn't really separated the whole time and when Rukia pointed this out Momo blushed while Toushiro shrugged. The movie was and Action/Comedy/Romance she everyone was pretty much content.

After the movie everyone began to head home, once again Momo with Toushiro as the shopping center was close enough to the school for them to walk they would only have to walk a little extra.

Once outside of the warmth of the shopping center Momo realized just how cold it was. Checking her watch she saw it was nearly 8pm, and dark out while all she was wearing was a light summer dress. After giving an involuntary shiver she felt a soft warm material cover her shoulders.

Turning her head slightly she saw Toushiro placing his jacket over her shoulders and give her a smile.

"I saw that shiver", was all he said still smiling slightly. She could only smile back and try not to blush too much.

They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, and once they reached Momo's house she said goodnight, gave him back his jacket and a quick kiss on the cheek as a thank you before stepping inside and closing the door.

Smiling she went up to her room, pulling out the photo booth picture she placed it on her bedside table making a mental note to buy a frame for it. Without bothering to get changed she flopped down on her bed and fell asleep.

In the morning, she was woken up by her pocket vibrating. Seeing as she hadn't bothered to get changed her phone was still in her pocket and she just received a message.

Opening her tired eyes, she fumbled a little before reading the brief message:

**Beach, 1pm?**

**All the group.**

**R.**

It was from Rukia. Re-reading the message a couple of times to let the meaning register into her still half asleep brain, she replied with a quick okay. Then looking at her clock Momo panicked, she only had half an hour to get ready and get there.

Another worrying thought came to her, as she got ready. A certain someone- whom she was beginning to feel rather strongly about, was going to see her in a bikini!

**Well there you go…not exactly brilliant and probably a little short, but it's done…hopefully the next chapter will be fun!…and again sorry for late update, unfortunately it won't be the last late one…please review before you go…and yeah!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay... long time no up-date I know, I do apologize but at a poor shot for an excuse…I haven't been in a very bleach mood at the moment…I also have many other reasons just a few is school life, work life, sport life, social life. I'd like to congratulate those who manage to balance those things perfectly… you guys are champs…i'd like to apologize also for the last chapter, as I said before it was a spare of the moment thing in english when I felt a need to update...on a brighter note this I think is the longest chapter yet!and not too many more to go either...  
**

**Enough of useless shit… enjoy if you can :P**

**Disclaimer:** Never have Never will own it…

* * *

Momo searched her cream coloured cupboard frantically. Clothes of all different colours flew around the room and landed on her bed, making it impossible to see the peach coloured bed spread beneath it all. Giving off an exasperated sigh, she raced downstairs to the laundry.

She became delighted once she saw the familiar white material showing beneath other items of clothing. Jumping two stairs at a time back up to her bedroom, she quickly threw on the plain white bikini before catching her reflection in a mirror. Her face dropped.

'_Omg I look so plain, and this bikini is so old and he's gonna be there. Shit what am I going to do_'? A million unpleasant thoughts ran through her head. She was still standing in front of the mirror when her mobile rang.

"Hello?" she said, still anxiously trying to get ready in time she didn't even check caller ID.

"Hey where are you? We thought you'd be here by now, you live like a block away", came the familiar voice of Rukia.

"Umma… sorry, I slept in late but I'll be there soon I promise", she said, assuring herself more then the person on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, whatever. Just get here soon okay? You're already late. Bye".

With that Momo hung up and began digging through the mound of clothes on her bed, forgetting her previous worries about her swimmers. Finding a pair of black short board shorts with a white trimming and a plain white tank top she quickly threw on her outfit along with plain black thongs. Leaving her hair flow down her back she quickly brushed it, grabbed a bag, her keys, phone, wallet and a towel before flying out the door and heading towards the beach.

It took her three minutes to reach her destination. She figured she had made good time seeing as it normally took her around ten minutes. She began searching the sandy area for a familiar face. She finally spotted a bubbly red head and short raven-haired girl standing in line to get ice creams. Rushing over she decided it was best to greet them from behind. Giving both girls a quick jab in the sides **(lol. That really hurts)** made them both jump and turn around holding their sides. Rukia looked pissed, but seeing it was only Momo replaced her disgusted face for a cheerful one.

"Hey you made it, bout time too!" she stated playfully.

"I overslept a little", Momo replied defensively.

"Yeah whatever, well do you want an ice cream or something else?" Orihime asked gesturing to the many food stalls around. Momo glanced at the possible food briefly before deciding it was best to eat later.

"Nah, I'm good. Where is everyone anyways?"Momo asked.

"We're not sure. We all kind off split up to get our own food, but everyone should arrive back where we set up soon. So I guess we'll head over there now…" Rukia trailed off.

Momo silently concluded that where they set up was way too far away. They had been walking for a good 20 minutes before the two girls ahead of her finally came to a stop. With a sigh of relief, Momo literally dumped her stuff on the ground and took in her surroundings. The walk had defiantly been worth it, they had stopped in the most exclusive part of the beach.

"Like the view?" breathed a voice behind her. Her stomach flipped, okay he was way too close.

"Yeah", she replied a pink tinge spreading lightly across her cheeks before turning on the spot to face who she was talking to.

"Good, you hungry?" Toushiro asked, turning away to look through the basket of food they had brought.

"Not just yet, maybe later"

Toushiro shrugged, "suit yourself", he said before grabbing something for himself to eat.

Feeling an awkward silence coming on Momo began to panic slightly and decided to try and strike up a conversation with Rukia. Unfortunately nothing immediately came to mind as she had hoped it would.

"Rukia…uhh…umm…toilet?" she managed to get out. Rukia looked at her pleading eyes questioningly. "Uhh, okay". She led Momo to the nearest girl's bathroom which was considerably far away thanks again to their chosen spot.

"Okay, what's going on huh? I seriously doubt that you need to go to the toilet", she commented skeptically. Momo reflected on this. What the hell had happened back there? She knew that she liked Toushiro and all but this was getting a bit ridiculous, after all she wasn't a little kid anymore she should be able to handle this. Quickly realizing that she still hadn't answered Rukia she said, "Nothing, I promise", she began walking towards an empty cubicle. She trusted Rukia and all, but still there are some things that the girl doesn't need to know about her. It's not like she has known her for very long.

"You like him don't ya?"

Momo visibly stopped in her tracks. Then again maybe she could tell Rukia, she had pretty much already guessed dead on, and heck Momo could use some advice. She sighed audibly before nodding slowly.

"Is it really that obvious?" she asked anxiously. Rukia smiled warmly.

"Only to me, trust me. So lemme guess, the reason you aren't telling him would be…fear of rejection?" she inquired. Momo nodded again head bowed to cover the light blush that was approaching her cheeks rapidly.

'_Idiots_' Rukia thought, _so blind_.

"Well I don't think he has rejection on his mind when it comes to you" she reassured the girl. "But if you're not sure, just forget about it for now. Let's go swimming!" she changed the subject jubilantly. Momo felt gratitude towards her friend and quickly agreed.

After racing back to where all of their belongings were, Momo and Rukia weren't surprised to find the group already in the water. Removing her singlet hesitantly Momo and Rukia followed suit.

_Wow__,_ was all he could think as Momo entered the water. He was mesmerized, by her body. He knew that he liked her and all but he didn't want to scare her off by asking her out or anything. Besides there were no guarantees that she would say yes he hadn't know her very long and who knows maybe all she was looking for was a friendship with him. He tore his eyes away just in time to avoid another smart ass gaze from Rukia.

They all mucked around in the water for around about 2 hours before most of them retired back to solid ground. They were going to be there all night and later they would set up a bonfire. At the moment though, the girls all took advantage of the sun and lay down on beach towels to soak it up.

After just 45 minutes of 'soaking up the sun', Momo began to feel very hot and decided to cool down by wadding into the water.

Her mind began to wander on many things, but still mostly focused on one person. Rukia had gotten into her head, before Momo wouldn't even consider confessing how she felt to Toushiro, but because Rukia had said that he wouldn't reject her she pondered her options. Perhaps she had interpreted it wrong. Maybe all Rukia had meant was that Toushiro is a nice guy and he wouldn't 'reject' her exactly, more let her down gently. Even so, she had to do something about it soon because it was eating her up inside.

Momo was suddenly jerked out of her train of thought when she realized how far away from land she was. Her first impression was that she must have simply lost track of things and gone too far, but once trying to swim back inwards she came to the frightening conclusion that she was stuck in a rip.

Her once calm mind now corrupt couldn't think straight and she began desperately swimming back towards shore, but to no avail. She became very tired and felt her energy drain before she blacked out.

Back on shore, Toushiro abruptly became aware of someone's absence.

"Where's Momo" he asked no one in particular.

"She went for a swim or something", Rukia, face down, waved her arm lazily behind her in the direction of the water. Toushiro looked up to scan the water, it took a while to find her but he did find her struggling figure in the distance.

It was way too distant for him.

* * *

**I don't know about you but I feel really mean leaving it there C:**

**I'd just like to point out a few things if I may… okay firstly before anyone gets on my back about it I realize that they were 'sun baking' pretty late in the day but where I live the sun is up and still hot until late into the night. Another thing, after my friend proof read this she asked if Momo was supposed to be portrayed as a, how do I say this… girl who Is very insecure with their body, and no she isn't. She is just acting like any girl would around a guy that she ****likes; well that's my aim anyways. Lastly, I promise I'll shut up after this, I don't know how many people understand exactly what a rip is…a rip is a strong current of water running out to sea, hey are pretty dangerous to get stuck in because basically it sucks you out into the middle of no-where. Most people who don't know what to do in a rip will fight frantically against its pull; however it only exhausts them and can be fatal. It's best to ****Tread water or float then once out past the breakers, swim parallel to shore and catch waves in. Or signal for help and wait for a lifesaver to rescue you.**

**Now that that's all said and done please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm not going to make excuses; I simply had a writer's block and procrastination problem. So here's chappie 6! With a HUGE thanks to Ez (partial co-writer) who practically wrote this whole thing 'coz I couldn't get off my lazy arse and do it myself C:**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bleach.

_Toushiro looked up to scan the water, it took a while to find her but he did find her struggling figure in the distance. It was way too distant for him. _

XxXxX

Without a word he sprinted to the waters edge and plunged into the freezing cold white wash. He could hear the others cry of confusion behind him, but none of that mattered at the moment. He urged himself to move faster even when he was exhausted, his muscles objected to the stress he was currently placing them under but he ignored it. He was closer now, not ten feet from her but the waters current was strong and before he could reach her she slipped out of consciousness and began to sink into the ocean's depths.

Once he had reached the place where her body should have been, he took a lungful of air and dove beneath the salty surface. The salty-ocean water prevented him from opening his eyes whilst submerged so he searched frantically and blindly, using his arms as guides. All too soon he ran out of air and rose to the surface. He took another large helping of air and plunged for the second time into the water. Desperately he began his blind search again until his hand grazed something soft but solid. He rose to the surface for the second time, this time supporting the weight of another. He made sure that her face was safely out of the water and began to swim back to shore. Exhausted as he was, Toushiro couldn't bring himself to feel fatigue at the moment.

Back on shore, once the other guys had realised what was happening the rushed out to meet Toushiro and Momo half way. Once on shore, Ichigo pried Momo away from Toushiro's grasp and laid her down on the dry sand. Toushiro staggered up the beach and dropped to his knees beside Ichigo, who was quickly assessing her condition.

"She's got a pulse, it's faint but it's there", Ichigo assured everyone, fingers to her wrist as he spoke.

"She's not breathing", Toushiro exclaimed, anxious. He couldn't have been more grateful for the CPR course that they were forced to take two years back. Swiftly, he placed his mouth over hers and gave her two quick breaths before turning and giving her thirty chest compressions. _Two breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty_- His concentration was interrupted by the girl beneath him stirring gently and then spluttering up a large amount of water. Momo's eyes were wide and confused before they fluttered to a close again.

"Momo?!" Toushiro asked alarmed. His hand found hers and he squeezed it hoping for a response, receiving none he threw a panicked glance in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo on the other hand, seemed to be relieved.

"She's breathing again", he announced, eyeing the steady rise and fall of her chest as proof. The group all released the breath that they had been holding. "She should go to the hospital though, if her lungs still have water in them she can still drown, off or on land", Ichigo added.

Momo opened her eyes groggily and sat up, well tried to sit up and she would have had it not been for the hand that forced her back down gently onto something soft. Confused, Momo took in her surroundings, hadn't she been at the beach? She was inside an unfamiliar room, and according to the amount of light coming from the window to her left, it was either late at night or really early in the morning. Looking down, she noticed she was in a rather comfortable bed. The pillows were obviously stuffed with feathers, she concluded at their soft touch. Her bedspread consisted of a sheet, a feather doona and a throw rug at the end of the bed in case of the need for extra warmth. Despite having absolutely no idea of her true whereabouts, Momo felt safe enough to let the only thing bothering her be the painfully, dry burning in the back of her throat.

"Here", Momo jumped; startled by the voice to her left that broke the silence. She turned to find the owner of the voice and sure enough there was Toushiro hand outstretched, offering her a glass of water. Condensation that was lightly dripping on the carpet told her that the beverage was icy.

"Thanks", she murmured, and then winced as her throat scratched uncomfortably. Gratefully she downed the glass in one go. Toushiro sat on a chair beneath the window, monitoring her closely. Once it was evident that he wasn't going to speak first, Momo slowly sat up slightly, still leaning against the pillows.

"What happened?" she asked softly. Bits and pieces from the day's events at the beach had come back to her now that she was fully awake, but she couldn't remember much and it all seemed out of sequence. Toushiro was silent for a minute, as if choosing his words carefully.

"You were caught in a rip, you must have swallowed too much water because you blacked out", he said quietly.

"Oh...but then how did I get here?" she paused, looking around, "come to think of it where am I?" She had noticed not long after she had woken up that she wasn't in a hospital. Toushiro sighed and gave her a patient smile, he decided it was probably best to give her the whole story.

"I noticed that you were struggling in the rip, you had gone pretty far out and there was no one else with you in the water to help. I went in after you and brought you back to shore but you were unconscious." He seemed to hesitate before continuing, "You-uh...came to, after you coughed up a fair bit of water but Ichigo insisted that you went to the hospital just in case anyways. They discharged you about four hours ago," he said checking the clock on the bed side table, "but they said that someone would need to keep an eye on you just in case".

"Oh, okay...wow", she whispered softly, slowly processing this new information. Eventually it clicked that she should be more then appreciative. "Oh, oh my god, Toushiro...thank you", she faltered. Whilst gathering her thoughts, something else became apparent. "This is your place?" it was more of a statement then a question but Toushiro nodded anyways.

"Yeah, the group figured that I lived the closest to you so it would be easier. We couldn't get on to anyone at your home and we didn't want to intrude by using your keys. That and someone was supposed to keep watch over you at all times while you slept for a change in your condition", he didn't meet her eyes throughout his explanation. "Sorry", he added as an after thought. A small smile graced her features.

"You're sorry?" she accused, "you go through the trouble of saving me and giving me your hospitality and you're sorry?" she shook her head lightly, afterwards deciding that it was a bad idea as her head began to spin painfully. Her eyes drooped involuntary as she fought the weariness that threatened to take over.

"You should get some rest", Toushiro said standing.

"No I-...don't go", she pleaded helplessly.

Toushiro grinned and walked over to the bed, "I'm not leaving", he assured her, reaching toward the end of her bed to pick up the throw rug and drape it across her figure. Momo smiled bashfully as he returned to his chair by the window, eventually she succumbed to a much needed sleep.

XxXxX

**There you go! We are kinda thinking that the next chapter is the last...don't want to drag this out too far, better to end it on a good note, eh? Sorry for the extreme late up date and probably at fairly short chapter...please review though C: it really does motivate for update..lol..-**


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